Wrightstown Friends Meeting House - Newtown, PA
N 40° 15.938 W 074° 58.906
18T E 501550 N 4457240
Typical, yet simply elegant meetinghouse in Bucks Count, PA. A huge cemetery sits to the right with over 629 interments.
Waymark Code: WM8TDD
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 05/10/2010
Views: 6
Wrightstown Friends began meeting in the home of John Chapman in 1686 and built the first log meetinghouse at this location in 1721. The present building was built in 1787. Wrightstown Friends operated a school from 1847 until 1903. The Wrightstown Friends Nursery School is under the care of the meeting.
There is a neat date stone just under the gable, the side which faces the road. The structure, lighter in color than most, is almost an exact replica of the other ones nearby here and in NJ. There are a few meditative gardens/areas for reflection at the cemetery. I also found the grave of a Revolutionary War Veteran.
Many of the early settlers of Wrightstown belonged to the Society of Friends, some of whom had been fined and punished for their religious belief and practice in England. The first religious meeting in this township was held at the house of John Chapman, in 1686. Other meetings were held at his place and at the house of John Penquite, who was for many years a prominent minister, as was also John Chapman's daughter Ann, who traveled through the provinces and several times visited Great Britain. In 1721 Wrightstown had permission from Falls Quarterly Meeting to build a meeting-house. This was accordingly done on land given for that purpose and for a graveyard, by the Chapmans, and a part of it is at present the property of the meeting. Source
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